The Last Stage (1948)

Female prisoners of various ethnic background struggle to survive the hardships of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Director:

Wanda Jakubowska

Writers:

Wanda Jakubowska, Gerda Schneider

Stars:

Tatjana Gorecka, Antonina Gordon-Górecka, Barbara Drapinska

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatjana Gorecka	...	Eugenia, doctor-prisoner
Antonina Gordon-Górecka	...	Anna, nurse-prisoner
Barbara Drapinska	...	Marta Weiss
Aleksandra Slaska	...	Superintendent of the Women's Block
Barbara Rachwalska	...	Elza
Wladyslaw Brochwicz	...	Commandant of Auschwitz (as Wlad. Brochwicz)
Edward Dziewonski	...	Auschwitz Medical Officer
Kazimierz Pawlowski	...	Gestapo Chief
Alina Janowska	...	Dessa, nurse-prisoner
Mariya Vinogradova	...	Nadja, a nursing aide
Stanislaw Zaczyk	...	Tadek
Stefan Sródka	...	Bronek
Janina Marisówna	...	Deputy superintendent of the Women's Block
Huguette Faget	...	Michele, French prisoner
Zofia Mrozowska	...	Dessa - the Gypsy Prisoner

Storyline

Martha Weiss, a Jew, is sent to Auschwitz concentration camp with her family. On the first day of their arrival Martha is, by a coincidence, chosen as an interpreter, but her entire family is killed. Waiting for the Red Army to deliver them from the prison camp, the film depicts Martha and her friends' struggling life under the tyranny of camp guards and equally bad 'capos', administrative personnel chosen from among the prisoners.

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Plot Keywords:

concentration camp | auschwitz | f rated | mass murder | death | 

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Taglines:

SHOCKING!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish Russian German French

Release Date:

21 March 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Stage

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

P.P. Film Polski

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though all of the actors were Polish, the ones depicting German soldiers learned and spoke German to add to the authenticity of the film.

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Connections

Featured in Lekcja polskiego kina (2002)

User Reviews

The Last Stage captures the feeling of what it was like at Auschwitz

The Last Stage (Ostatni Etap) is about the women who were interned at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Although men were also imprisoned there, this story is mostly about the women. People from all over Europe (including France, Hungry, Poland and Russia) were caged and killed at this camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Some were imprisoned for political reasons and others for simply being a Pole or a Jew. The story is based on the actual experiences of the director (Wanda Jakubowska) and was shot on location just three years after the war, which gives it a feeling of practically being a recreation of the atrocity.

Although we get to know a group of women, one that stands out is Martha Weiss. She is a young Jewish woman that is spared the same fate as her family because she ends up working for the Germans as an interpreter. Those who have a skill useful to the Nazis are spared leaving the camp though the smoke of the chimney. Martha and her friends make the best of their grim situation and are courageous in their acts of defiance.

With their survival threatened, not all of the prisoners are quite so noble. Some of the prisoners work as assistants for the guards to help them do their dirty work. In return, they get a few extra comforts and their own deaths are delayed.

The Last Stage captures the feeling of what it was like at Auschwitz, which is at times surreal with an orchestra of prisoners playing classical music out in the open air while the other prisoners are abused and degraded by their captors.

Ostatni Etap is a classic Polish movie; in Poland, it is in the top 20 of all time box office hits of Polish cinema. The Last Stage depicts a disturbing part of history, but it is better to know what really happened during World War II than it is to pretend it never did, which is why I would recommend everyone to watch this movie.